A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
Lowered compliance costs, greater control over products, more big engines, more pickup trucks. These are just some of the changes investors expect from the rollback of fuel economy rules and the elimination of fines. Data indicate pent up demand for pickup trucks, and many automakers are bringing back V-8 engines. At the same time, hybrid vehicles are surging, and electric vehicles have longer term structural demand in their favor.
Ugh, lower CAFE standards are exactly the wrong thing to introduce when there is a fuel shortage because of the Iranwar, which is driving up fuel prices. That's on top of what the increased greenhouse gas emissions will to to increase climatechange, not that either Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump or the Republicans in Congress care about that. They do care about people and companies making money, and this change will allow car companies, especially American ones, to do just that, at least in the short- to medium-term. Long-term, this is a bad plan that I expect will be reversed, eventually. I can at least point to market forces, like demand for high-mileage vehicles, that will ameliorate the effects of lowering standards. The market will at least counteract some of what government won't do.
That's the general driving update. Follow over the jump for my family's personal report.
The Trump administration said it would stop funding the Arctic Report Card, the longstanding effort to collect research on how the fastest-warming place on Earth is changing. It's the latest in a series of moves by the administration to curtail scientific research into the impacts of climate change. William Brangham discussed more with glaciologist Twila Moon, the Arctic Report Card's editor.
Gerrymandering, more often than not, is used to disenfranchise people who live in cities and scatter their votes into outlying districts. It doesn't have to be this way.
[T]here have always been embarrassingly bad, nakedly partisan congressional maps, but things went to a whole ‘nother level in 2026. And it’s bad enough that it’s impacting the balance of power in the legislative branch, but what really sticks in my craw is how it stacks the deck against cities.
So today’s video tackles a couple questions: how big should the House of Representatives be, and how should we be drawing districts to make sure city dwellers and rural folk both get legitimate representation?
(Side note: I spent more hours on this video topic than any I’ve ever done, partly because it comes with a companion piece on my site — nerd4cities.com — that also ate up a bunch of hours. The time kind of flew by, though, so...call it a labor of hate)
I find all three formulas converging on one district for every 500,000 people encouraging. It tells me that my support for the "Wyoming Plan," which has the population of every district being the size of the smallest population state, is well founded. It's also why I'm not terribly eager to add the U.S. Virgin Islands; their population would make the Wyoming Plan unwieldy, if not downright impracticable. Fortunately, the last referendum overwhelmingly supported territory status...However, making the population of a district 500,000 and not that of the lowest population state would remove those reservations.
Ray advocating for the Wyoming Plan/Rule bolsters my support.
As for Ray's preference for keeping communities of interest together running afoul of the Voting Rights Act, I think he shouldn't worry too much about it as long as the current Supreme Court justices are serving. As I wrote in Vox and MS NOW explain 'The voting rights case that could set us back 60 years' and repeated in 'Last Week Tonight' examines redistricting, "the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shot multiracial democracy in America in the leg, if not an even more vital part of the body. The bullet is still traveling, injuring tissues and organs on its way." Much, if not most, of the redistricting that Ray is objecting to is the result of that decision.
That's a wrap for today. I have an appointment in the morning and will return to the office tomorrow afternoon, so stay tuned for another short evergreen educational entry I can share next month, which begins on Tuesday.
John Oliver discusses how the Department of Justice has changed since Trump took office for his second term, how the DOJ seems to be acting on his behalf instead of on behalf of the people, and why we need barbers who use scissors instead of their teeth. You’d think that goes without saying, but we’re afraid it might not.
I've been following the protestsagainstICE and the follies around the ReflectingPool, so I'm familiar with DOJ's legal failures involving them. I also read Marcy "Emptywheel" Wheeler, who has a Weaponized DOJ category on her blog, so I've also read about the cases investigating serious crimes that were dropped to concentrate on immigration and Pervert Hoover's political enemies. While I've encountered Harmeet Dhillon's name and office there, I had no idea she and Pervert Hoover had ended the agreement about septic systems in Alabama because of environmental justice and DEI. As an environmentalist who thinks diversity is a strength, I'm offended. Just the same, thanks to Last Week Tonight's researchers for finding the story.
That's a wrap for today's holiday. Tomorrow is WorldElephantDay, so stay tuned to see if I blog about it.
John Oliver discusses how the Trump family’s cryptocurrency ventures have overshadowed their other businesses, how they’ve created massive conflicts of interest for the Trump administration, and what it all has to do with Fartcoin.
Five years ago, Donald "Pervert Hoover" Trump was skeptical, if not downright hostile to cryptocurrency. Three years ago, he was all in. In between, a lot of cryptocurrency money poured into campaigns. I'm sure that helped change a lot of politicians' minds, including Pervert Hoover, but I'm with John; it was mostly what crypto could do for his personal and family fortunes that did the trick. That turned out to be correct. File that under "even a stuck clock is right twice a day."
This reminds me of McMillion$, an examination of an elaborate scam and the scammers behind it. It also shows the fine line between business and the economy on one side and crime and justice on the other. I'm not surprised the two intersected at cryptocurrency.
Or that they intersected the Trump family business, either.
I shouldn't be surprised. As I first remarked in MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1, "Jailbirds of a feather flock together," especially jailbirds useful to Pervert Hoover.
John Oliver discusses how the Supreme Court has paved the way for the redrawing of congressional maps across the country, and what it means for the midterm elections. Plus, an urgent update on Gavin Newsom’s summer reading.
As for the Supreme Court's opinion on the Voting Rights Act, I wrote "the conservative majority of the Supreme Court shot multiracial democracy in America in the leg, if not an even more vital part of the body. The bullet is still traveling, injuring tissues and organs on its way." Oliver documents the damage, which isn't done yet.
I close by agreeing that all options should be on the table, especially Supreme Court reform. That might have to wait until 2029, when both houses of Congress and the White House are controlled by Democrats. To get there, "people in favor of multiracial democracy are going to have to vote in large enough numbers this fall and in 2028 to overwhelm the forces trying to send the U.S. back 60 years or more. May we succeed."
CNN FILMS PRIME MINISTER WINS TWO EMMY® AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST DOCUMENTARY
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CNN’s recognition extended to the Documentary Emmy® Awards on Thursday night, where CNN Films’ Prime Minister won Best Documentary and Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. The acclaimed film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, earning the Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary before being acquired by HBO and CNN Films. Released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures, Prime Minister is available to stream now at CNN.com/Watch, on the CNN app, and on HBO Max.
Dame Jacinda Ardern posted a thank you speech to her Instagram.
Tonight the incredible team who made the documentary simply titled “Prime Minister” won the Emmy for best documentary. From the sidelines I saw these talented directors, editors, and producers all come together to create a film (which I have still only watched it in its entirety once..) that feels like the most accurate portrayal of what it’s like to lead with your heart on your sleeve. My huge congratulations to them all, especially Michelle Walshe and Lindsay Utz who co-directed it. But here, I want to make a special mention of Clarke, the first person who picked up a camera. I wasn’t the easiest person to film, and nor through the years of being PM was I the easiest partner. But that never changed the amount of support he gave in return. Our loved ones don’t choose politics, but they are still on the front line alongside us every day, cheering us on, keeping life at home going, reminding us why we’re there. So thank you, Clarke. Now it’s my turn to cheer you on xx
Clarke spoke at the awards tonight, and he saved his final words, rightly so, to thank New Zealand. Our home. We will both forever be grateful for the privilege of a lifetime.
Congratulations to Dame Jacinda, the documentarians, CNN, and HBO!
Since it's Throwback Thursday and the subject is politics, follow over the jump for the top serious political posts written during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
We investigated one of the world’s largest AI data centers, using thermal drone footage to reveal the hidden pollution powering the AI boom. As companies race to build the future of artificial intelligence, residents and experts warn that fossil fuels, secrecy, and weak regulation may be putting communities at risk.
This award is as much about technology as it is about economics. May it mean that AI be a net benefit for the economy. Right now, it looks like it's doing more destruction than creation.
If the projections are correct, it will be doing both, with 20% of people losing their current jobs while quintupling GDP. Yikes! That's an outcome the residents of Richistan would approve of. As for the rest of us, I'll repeat what I wrote a dozen years ago in Robots are coming for our jobs, "the loss of jobs to robots will be the major effect of the Singularity, not everyone becoming cyborgs or the machines enslaving or killing off humanity." It's not like we weren't warned.
That would be an end result. Joe Hanson is showing that getting there is already a risk in terms of increased consumption of land, water, materials to make the data centers and the power plants to run them, and natural gas, as well as increased production of waste in the form of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants. It reminds me of an equation I teach my environmental science students to describe environmental impact: "I=P*A*T, where I is impact, P is population, A is affluence, and T is technology." A.I., or at least the data centers to support it, are becoming an example of a technology that supports affluence but increases the impact of the population on the environment. I prefer technology that decreases the impact of an affluent population by being more efficient. Data centers aren't that, not until they use sustainable energy.
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, is fueling its data centers with unpermitted gas turbines, according to a Floodlight visual investigation. Thermal drone footage captured in late January 2026 shows xAI running the unpermitted turbines at its custom-built power plant in Southaven, Miss., nearly two weeks after the Environmental Protection Agency reiterated that doing so requires a state permit in advance. The ad hoc gas plant's sole task is to power the data center behind Grok and an example of AI's growing reliance on fossil fuels. Investigative Producer Evan Simon breaks down the investigation and what the findings could mean for the AI buildout occurring across the country.
**UPDATE** Mississippi regulators approved xAI's permit application to run 41 gas powered turbines at its Southaven gas plant on 3/10/26. The decision comes despite heavy pushback from local community members and will result in the creation of one of Mississippi's largest fossil fuel power plants.
This got me to subscribe to the Floodlight News YouTube channel, "The only U.S. newsroom with the specific mission to investigate climate polluters." Expect to see more from them.
Another lesson I teach my students is about the principles for environmental policy. Two of them are human rights, in this case the right to clean air and an environment not permeated by harmful noise, and public participation. The United States is supposed to be a democracy within a republic, where the people decide and the government represents the people. The Floodlight News video shows that the way data centers are being installed and operated respects neither. That's also the point of yesterday's MS NOW video, Erin Brockovich on AI data centers: 'People aren't being heard'.
Americans on both sides of the aisle have found common ground opposing construction of AI data centers in their communities. In Texas, one lifelong conservative voter told MSNOW reporter Josh Einiger that the issue could flip the Senate. And longtime consumer advocate Erin Brockovich joins to lay out what she's learned since she started tracking the issue.
I'm surprised I've never mentioned Erin Brockovich in 15+ years of blogging. It's about time I did.
That's a wrap for today. I'm sure I'll have more to say on the matter. In the meantime, stay tuned for the Sunday entertainment feature.
Looking for the most popular baby names of 2025? We’ve got the official list. As the source for baby names in the U.S., we’re sharing the Top 10 baby names of 2025, based on real data from Social Security. Whether you’re naming a baby or just curious about trends, this list has you covered.
Olivia and Liam were America's most popular baby names for 2025 – the seventh consecutive year both names have held the top spot. The baby names are drawn from Social Security card applications submitted at birth, making SSA the nation’s authoritative source for baby naming trends.
Last year, America’s most popular baby names remained consistent with years past, with minimal shifts in the top 10 rankings. Charlotte climbed to second place among girls, ending Emma’s six-year run in the runner-up slot. A top-10 fixture for years, Ava dropped from the list entirely – replaced by Eliana, which debuted at number 10. On the boys’ side, the top four names – Liam, Noah, Oliver, and Theodore – held their places.
Here are the top 10 boys’ and girls’ names for 2025:
Social Security releases the list of the 1,000 most popular baby names each year in honor of Mother’s Day. The full list is available at www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames.
“Happy Mother’s Day to all the exceptional mothers who inspire us and guide future generations,” said Social Security Commissioner Frank J. Bisignano. “As Mother’s Day draws closer, I find myself reflecting on the unwavering care, courage, and commitment my own mother instilled in my siblings and me as the glue that held our family together.”
This Year’s Fastest-Rising Names: Fire and Brightness
Beyond the top 10, 2025’s fastest movers tell their own story. The boys’ name Kasai, meaning “fire” in Japanese and Swahili, surged 1,108 positions to enter the top 1,000 for the first time, landing at 639. For girls, Klarity, a contemporary spelling of “clarity” evoking brightness and light, led all risers.
Here are the five boys’ and girls’ names that increased the most in popularity in 2025:
Not only did Ailany come in first on this list, variants Aylani and Ailani came in second and tenth.
It's just another variant of the same name. Also, the third fastest rising boy's name, Eziah, looks like a variant on last year's fifth fastest rising name, Azaiah, both of which appear to be alternative spellings of Isaiah. The trends continue.
That's a wrap for today's holiday. I plan on returning to baby names for Father's Day. In the meantime, I have some science involving animals and music penciled in for tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Happy Throwback Thursday! As I wrote yesterday, I'm resuming my series on the News & Doc Emmy Awards. Today's topic is Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. One nominee stands out, Prime Minister with two nominations as the preview image shows, Best Documentary and Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. The rest of the field has only the one nomination for Outstanding Politics and Government Documentary. On that basis, I'm declaring Prime Minister the favorite. Watch Prime Minister | Official Trailer | HBO.
“World leaders have rarely been captured with as much intimacy” - @variety
A rare and unfiltered portrait, #PrimeMinisterHBO chronicles the unexpected journey of Dame Jacinda Ardern, New Zealand’s 40th Prime Minister. Premieres September 30 on @hbomax.
I found Jacinda Ardern inspirational while she was Prime Minister during the pandemic, and I felt that way again watching this trailer.
Bodyguard of Lies is the first unvarnished documentary on the Afghanistan War, exposing the falsehoods told to Americans and the secrets kept. The film reveals the staggering cost of deception: thousands of lives lost, trillions spent, and a truth buried for decades.
I expressed what a waste of time, money, and lives the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan was ten years ago in We could have had the Moon, instead we get Afghanistan. Seeing this collapse a decade later demonstrates that I wasn't disgusted enough at the squandering of blood and treasure in "the Graveyard of Empires" at the time.
It was even worse than I thought and the people in charge knew it.
Unprecedented and audacious, HOLLYWOODGATE is the riveting result of the year director Ibrahim Nash'at spent with the Taliban in the wake of the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Risking his life in the war-torn nation, Nash'at is on the ground with the Taliban when they enter an American base loaded with a portion of the roughly $7 billion worth of U.S. armaments left behind. Driving towards an astonishing and chilling end, Nash'at tracks Taliban leaders as they attempt to transform from a fundamentalist militia into a modern military regime, employing Hollywood-style propaganda to achieve their goals.
#TheDarkMoneyGame: Ohio Confidential & Wealth of the Wicked by Academy Award Winner Alex Gibney premieres Tuesday, April 15 and Wednesday, April 16 at 9pm on @hbomax.
That's two nominated documentaries from Alex Gibney. The man is a powerhouse.
Which are the distinct attributes sculpting the Japanese identity? What makes you Japanese? In order to figure out the answers, the British Japanese filmmaker closely follows 1st and 6th graders for one year at a public elementary school in Tokyo, as well as their teachers, unveiling how teachers and students interact and shape one another. The outbreak of the pandemic and its restrictions constitute just another controlling measure. The kids in Japan are after all forged by their homeland's culture through a strictly defined education process which is in pursuit, with unwavering focus, of the appropriate equilibrium between individual progress and harmony of the society as a whole. Offering a unique hybrid perspective, the filmmaker critically examines a culture that is equally familiar to her as it is foreign, while she peruses the school environment in terms of an industrial production plant, in which the raw materials for processing are the students.
One of the points I make when I cover shows about government is that public education is government, too. I'm glad to see the News & Doc Emmy selection committee recognize this.
Now for Prime Minister's second category.
2000 Meters to Andriivka leads with six nominations, Turning Point: The Vietnam War follows with five nominations, Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time, Life After, and Love + War tie at four nominations, and Black Snow and Union tie at this one nomination. I had 2000 Meters to Andriivka penciled in to win this category because of its awards history, especially its wins at the DGA and WGA Awards, but seeing it lead this category, if not all nominees, in nominations inks that prediction in.
I'll probably examine Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time tomorrow. In the meantime, follow over the jump as I continue my retrospective of top posts about the Emmy Awards during the 15th year of Crazy Eddie's Motie News.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like King Charles meeting New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani.
I now have Spirit Airlines going bankrupt, again, and shutting down operations on my to-do list. On the other hand, I've already covered the royal visit. I just wish people would stop picking on Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, who was born only a few miles from where I grew up and is my favorite royal. On the other hand, keep picking on the Andrew formerly known as Prince. He deserves it.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like a woman damaging a statue in Italy while trying to touch its genitals.
Tucked into the legislation that ended the longest government shutdown in U.S. history was a provision to change the definition of hemp. It was a small tweak involving minute measurements, but one that could have a huge impact on the booming market for hemp products. Jeffrey Brown reports from Kentucky.
That's a bummer, both for the users and the farmers. I'm going to offer some rare faint praise for Rand Paul, which is that I generally don't agree with his principles, but at least he has some, and this time I actually approve of how he's applying them. May he and others succeed in loosening the regulations on hemp.
Supporters of legal marijuana in Wisconsin have announced a new effort at the state Capitol.
The racial disparity in enforcement is enough to make me support this bill, although I agree that making medical marijuana legal would be a good first step that might actually pass. Some of the commenters mentioned that the bar and tavern owners opposed legalization. Considering that Wisconsin is the drunkest state in the union and seems proud of it, I'm not surprised.
PENNSYLVANIA (WJAC) — Is this the year that Pennsylvania lawmakers legalize the recreational use of marijuana?
Governor Shapiro continues to push for it, but it is still not certain if the legislature will approve it.
State Representative Scott Conklin recently spoke about the fact that all but one of Pennsylvania’s neighboring states have already legalized marijuana. So, will it happen here?
Others in the legislature are not supportive of the idea, for various reasons, including one of the most heard about --- marijuana's possible link to harder drugs.
Raising revenue is one of the most cited reasons by Governor Shapiro and other backers to legalize.
Envisioned as a new cash crop in Pennsylvania, farmers paying a fee, growers’ licenses, tax on sales, all bringing in money, with the Department of Agriculture providing oversight.
I think Pennsylvania is a better bet than Wisconsin, but it's not a sure thing.
That's a wrap for today's sort-of holiday. Stay tuned for a Tuneful Tuesday post featuring the Marsh Family tomorrow, followed by the next episode of my series on the News & Doc Emmy Awards with the nominees for Outstanding Nature Documentary on Wayback Wednesday, which falls on Earth Day.
On January 8, 2023, thousands of supporters of Brazil’s right-wing former President Jair Bolsonaro stormed federal buildings in the country’s capital. Their goal? Overthrow the results of an election they claimed was rigged, despite no credible evidence of fraud.
If that sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Brazil’s January 8 looked a lot like the January 6 attack on the US capital, just two years earlier: mob violence, an insurrection, and a defeated leader who refused to concede.
But the aftermath could not be more different. Jair Bolsonaro is now serving a 27-year prison sentence, while Donald Trump is president, again.
So how did two democracies, facing similar threats, end up with such different outcomes? This video explains how Brazil’s democratic system worked to hold “the Trump of the Tropics” accountable and what the US could learn from the aftermath.
Laws and constitutions don't enforce themselves; people have to enforce them. That happened in Brazil. It's not happening, not enough yet, here in the U.S. Time to recycle what I wrote in A meme and a song for Trump's sentencing.
Like Donald Trump's whitewashing and inversion of the attack on the Capitol, the new Big Lie, enough people bought it that Trump got re-elected and he avoided any actual punishment. That jammed "the wheels of justice," dashing my hope that I repeated most recently in Colbert and Kimmel examine Jack Smith's filing: "'The wheels of justice are grinding slowly in this case, but I expect they will indeed grind exceedingly fine.' May they also grind exceedingly fine for Trump and his seditious supporters, if not as slowly." Trump escaped before the wheels finished their work. Sigh.
Unless something extraordinary happens, like the 25th Amendment successfully being invoked, our next opportunity will be the midterm elections in November and a new Congress in January. May we and our democracy survive that long.
Oliver had two comments about Paramount purchasing Warner Bros. Discovery, but the first one didn't get uploaded to YouTube and the second is buried deep inside last night's main story. I'll embed that after the season premiere, ICE & DHS.
John Oliver discusses ICE’s repeated atrocities over the past months and explores the massive entity overseeing it all: the Department of Homeland Security. How it started, who runs it, and how many hats Kristi Noem owns.
I knew DHS was big, but I didn't know it was the third largest federal government department by number of employees behind the Department of Defense (not War, not until Congress acts) and Department of Veterans Affairs. By size of budget, DHS is sixth behind Health and Human Services, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, and Transportation. Welcome to the US government being an insurance company with an army. That's still a lot of money. As the graphic below shows, ICE alone has a budget larger than militaries of Turkey, Spain, and the Netherlands and just smaller than Canada's.
All of those are facts I didn't know before watching this segment, which meant that I learned three new things, making today a good day.
Now for the sequel, last night's Police Body Cameras. Watch carefully for the remark about Paramount; blink and you'll miss it.
John Oliver discusses why police body cameras can be useful, or useless, depending on whether they’re used properly, and yeah, he also discusses what it looks like to arrest a giant mouse. Because of course he does.
In theory, body cameras are a good thing, but we should be careful, if not downright vigilant, about how police use them in practice. This includes review of body camera footage, the equivalent of which Oliver seems to be daring Paramount to do to his show. Looks like he will have an even more hostile relationship with Paramount than he had with AT&T. That should be entertaining.
Congratulations! May the new ownership keep Oliver around for the awards the show wins, although that didn't save Stephen Colbert. Then again, Paramount renewed The Daily Show, so there's hope.
Here’s a weeknight speedy turnaround musical parody (missing Tess and Alfie cos unavailable) on the UK fallout linked to the Epstein files, and specifically the former US Ambassador and British Lord, Peter Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, and the bigger implications of his omissions and appointment rippling through Westminster. Naturally we picked a song from a movie about proteges, covert relationships, virtues and vices, which is another toe-tapping Paul Simon favourite, “Mrs Robinson” – recorded with Art Garfunkel in 1968. The song became the duo’s second number one, and the first rock song to win the Grammy award for Record of the Year. Apparently when the melody was first written there was no name in it, so it could be suited to any three syllable name – which helps explain why Mandelson seemed to fit so well.
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A “SPAD” is a special adviser to UK politicians (usually a high-level civil servant) – and two resigned in the last day or so who were central to Starmer’s government operation.
The British government seems to be facing consequences faster than the American government. I wonder why that is?
That's a wrap for today. Stay tuned as I plan on examining horror movie nominees for Friday the 13th. Frankenstein!
For more than a century, the size of the House of Representatives has been frozen at 435 seats; in that same period, the US population has tripled. This means that today, the average representative is responsible for more than 750,000 constituents. Scholars and politicians say this imbalance is why many Americans feel like Congress is disconnected from them.
So what if we…added more seats? That’s what Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) is proposing in a new bill because he believes it’s closer to what the country’s founders originally envisioned. While expanding Congress could make our ratio of voters to representatives smaller, it also raises a difficult question: Can a larger, more crowded legislature actually govern, or are we just adding more voices to the gridlock? Vox dives into the math, the history, and the potential future of a "bigger" American democracy.
I find all three formulas converging on one district for every 500,000 people encouraging. It tells me that my support for the "Wyoming Plan," which has the population of every district being the size of the smallest population state, is well founded. It's also why I'm not terribly eager to add the U.S. Virgin Islands; their population would make the Wyoming Plan unwieldy, if not downright impracticable. Fortunately, the last referendum overwhelmingly supported territory status. It's also why I would be ambivalent about adding Prince Edward Island as the 62nd state, proposing it join Nova Scotia or New Brunswick first. Yeah, like that will ever happen. However, making the population of a district 500,000 and not that of the lowest population state would remove those reservations.
White House Border Czar Tom Homan (Pete Davidson) meets with ICE agents (Kenan Thompson, James Austin Johnson, Mikey Day, Ben Marshall, Andrew Dismukes, Jeremy Culhane) in Minneapolis.
This is only the second time I've mentioned Tom Homan, responsible for familyseparation and caught on camera taking $50,000 in a fast-foot restaurant bag, the first being two days ago. He's certainly making a splash replacing Greg Bovino, who I've never mentioned here before and hope never to do so in another entry unless it's about any legal troubles he might face. Speaking of legal trouble, I watched the incident involving Don Lemon, who I haven't cited since 2021, and he was just doing his job; he wasn't one of the protestors. The feds arresting him is turning him into a hero of the Resistance, if he isn't already.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week's biggest news, like the FBI investigating Trump’s false claim the 2020 election was rigged.
Donald Trump is a self-help apostle. He always has tried to create his own reality by saying what he wants to be true. Where many see failure, Trump sees only success, and expresses it out loud, again and again.
His wish might just come true. This works on the social environment, but not the physical and biological environment; it failed to work on the virus during the pandemic. He couldn't bully a virus.
But he can bully the Department of Justice, particularly with Pam Bondi in charge. This is on top of his positive thinking reinforcing the Big Lie.
Personally, I'd rather call it Trump's dangerous delusion, his fixed belief that the election was stolen from him despite allevidence, which I see as related to his vulnerabilitytoconspiracy theories, but "the Big Lie" is the established phrase used by CNBC and others, so I'm calling it that instead. It's a lie, too.
Mayer's reporting shows that Trump's delusion is not just dangerous but contagious. It's bad enough that there is one pandemic running around; we don't need another.
The delusion has continued to spread, infecting a lot of candidates in today's elections. Ugh.
And now he has an Administration dedicated to it.
The first segment mentioned the Melania documentary, which alone qualifies this entry as the Sunday entertainment feature, but Kanye West made a cameo in Luigi Mangione Won’t Face Death Penalty, cementing its status.
Weekend Update anchors Colin Jost and Michael Che tackle the week’s biggest news, like Ye publishing an apology in The Wall Street Journal.
"Unless you have a pre-existing condition" would be funnier if it weren't so true.
Follow over the jump for the rest of last night's highlights.
In 2025, we stacked the Artemis II rocket, certified next-generation lunar spacesuits, celebrated 25 years on the International Space Station, and snapped the closest pictures ever taken of the Sun.
We’re not just going back to the Moon in 2026 – we’re paving the way to Mars, exploring the stars, and dominating the skies, setting the stage for a historic year ahead.
It’s going to be a busy year for space exploration with American Astronauts scheduled to make a return visit around the moon, traveling further than any human ever. NBC News’ Tom Costello spoke to the crew.
I wrote "I expected a space race between the U.S. and China over the U.S. returning to the Moon before the Chinese get there" five years ago, and that's exactly what's happening. This time, I'm glad I'm right, because it will get humans back on the Moon and working to get to Mars.
Starship is running behind schedule and holding up a lunar landing, so I'm rooting for Blue Origin to either win the contract or inspire SpaceX to get its act together in time.
The future of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center appears to be in jeopardy, according to a letter penned by a United States representative on Monday. In the letter, U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-California, a ranking member on the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, brought forth concerns about "disturbing reports" of a potential imminent closure at the Greenbelt campus. The letter, written to Sean Duffy, the U.S. Transportation secretary and acting administrator of NASA, said the possible closure of labs and facilities at the campus "put essential hardware and capabilities at great risk."
This is not good news for space science, including research that would help with exploring the Moon and Mars. Add this to the examples of one of 2025's science breakdowns, "Trump roils U.S. science." Ugh.
*I almost didn't because of what's happening in Venezuela. I decided to go ahead and let the late-night talk show hosts do the work for me tomorrow. Stay tuned.
The Critics Choice Association (CCA) unveiled the winners of the Tenth Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards at a gala event in New York City. The Perfect Neighbor won the top award of the evening, Best Documentary Feature. The film also took home awards in four other categories including Best Director for Geeta Gandbhir, Best Editing for Viridiana Lieberman, Best Archival Documentary, and Best True Crime Documentary.
The only category I clearly called for The Perfect Neighbor was Best True Crime Documentary. I thought it was a co-favorite with Riefenstahl and Orwell: 2+2=5 for Best Director, so no clear call, picked Orwell: 2+2=5 to win Best Documentary and Best Archival Documentary, and made no call for Best Editing, although I'm not surprised; editing is what makes a good archival documentary. Just the same, congratulations and good luck at next year's Emmy Awards, either as Outstanding Crime and Justice Documentary at the News & Doc Emmy Awards or Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special/Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking at the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Orwell: 2+2=5 leads the pack with seven nominations including Best Documentary Feature. The film’s other nominations are Raoul Peck for Best Director, Alexandra Strauss for Best Editing, Alexei Aigui for Best Score, Best Narration (Written by George Orwell, Adapted by Raoul Peck, Performed by Damian Lewis), Best Archival Documentary, and Best Political Documentary.
The Perfect Neighbor received six nominations including Best Documentary Feature, Geeta Gandbhir for Best Director, Viridiana Lieberman for Best Editing, Laura Heinzinger for Best Score, Best Archival Documentary, and Best True Crime Documentary.
George Orwell was one of the most visionary authors of the 20th Century, whose novels 1984 and Animal Farm foretold a chilling, all-to-believable authoritarian future. Acclaimed director Raoul Peck (Academy Award-nominated I Am Not Your Negro), working in collaboration with the Orwell Estate, seamlessly interweaves historical clips, readings from Orwell's diary, cinematic references, and dynamic modern day footage to craft not only a definitive portrait of the writer himself, but an entirely fresh take on how remarkably relevant and prophetic his work has become. Peck doesn't just present the information but shows new ways of seeing it, drawing patterns and connections we might not otherwise realize, championing Orwell as a man from the past who just might hold the key to the world's future.
That was chilling, and shows how Orwell is still relevant. Authoritarianism is still authoritarianism, whether the philosophy it uses to justify itself comes from the Left or the Right.
One woman. Dozens of 911 calls. And a close-knit neighborhood caught in a nightmare. What begins as one woman’s relentless harassment of children spirals into a shocking act of violence. Captured through gripping police bodycam footage, The Perfect Neighbor - Winner of the Sundance Film Festival’s Directing Award - delivers a hauntingly powerful experience that keeps you on edge from start to finish.
Yikes! This looks like a real-life version of multi-Razzie nominee Karen. That movie was about racism and harassment, and it's even uglier when it's fact instead of fiction.
Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominees for Best Documentary.
